Strong Second Half Powers ISU to 85-72 Win Over KU

AMES, Iowa – No. 14 Iowa State (16-4, 5-3 Big 12) put on a second-half offensive clinic in an 85-72 victory over No. 4 Kansas (16-4, 5-3 Big 12) Monday night in Hilton Coliseum.

Down seven at the half, ISU trounced the Jayhawks in the final 20 minutes, outscoring KU, 49-29 en route to its nation's-leading 21st win over a ranked opponent in the last three years.

Monte' Morris scored 21 points and dished out nine dimes and Georges Niang tallied 15 of his 19 points in the second half, as the Cyclones blistered the nets for a 64.3 percent clip after intermission.

The Cyclones, who now own victories over the No. 1 (Oklahoma), No. 3 (Iowa) and the No. 4 (Kansas) ranked teams in the current AP poll, notched their first lead of the game at the 8:52 mark of the second half when Deonte Burton buried a 3-pointer. ISU kept piling on the rest of the way.

Abdel Nader had 17 points and Matt Thomas recorded 13 points, including two 3-pointers in the second half to jumpstart the Cyclone offense.

How it Happened
Kansas raced out to an early 17-9 lead as the Cyclones struggled to score. ISU opened the game making just 3-of-its-first-11 shots from the floor while the Jayhawks were shooting at a 50 percent clip.

Devonte' Graham gave the Jayhawks a 10-point lead (24-14) with a 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark of the first half. ISU then cut the lead to four points (26-22) behind an 8-2 run, as Niang hit a shot of the glass to close the gap.

Both teams then got hot. KU increased its lead to 33-24 on a Carlton Bragg hoop with 4:59 left, but Nader hit a pair of 3-pointers to trim the KU lead to 36-32. The Cyclones made it a two-point game at 38-36, but Frank Mason scored the final five points, including a lay-in at the buzzer, to give the Jayhawks a 43-36 lead at the break.

A Landen Lucas bucket gave KU a 50-42 lead at the beginning of the second period, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Thomas and Morris made it 50-48 KU with 14:14 left in the game. Thomas then tied the game for the first time since the opening tip on another trey to make it 53-53 with 11:34 remaining in the game.

ISU had multiple chances to take its first lead until finally breaking through with a 3-point bomb by Burton. Morris then converted a steal for a lay-up, and suddenly the Cyclones led 62-57 with 8:24 left in the game.

The Cyclones made it an 11-0 run with a dunk and two free-throws by Nader, as ISU increased its lead to 66-57 with 7:09 left. Perry Ellis finally ended the KU drought with a score down low, then added a conventional 3-point play to cut the ISU lead to 66-62.

The Jayhawks never got any closer, as Nader a 3-pointer helped the Cyclones move ahead at 74-66 with under four minutes left. Morris and Niang then scored on back-to-back conventional 3-point plays, and ISU all of a sudden had an 80-67 lead with 2:01 remaining.

Cyclone of Note: Georges Niang. ISU All-American Georges Niang came alive in the second half, scoring 15 of his 19 points after intermission. Niang was 6-of-9 from the field in the second half, dominating the game with his wide-array of post moves. It was his 29th consecutive game in double figures and he now moves to No. 4 on ISU's career scoring list with 1,895 points.

Cyclone Quick Hits
*ISU has defeated Kansas in four out of the last five games.
*ISU has beaten the No. 1 (Oklahoma), No. 3 (Iowa) and the No. 4 (Kansas) ranked teams in this week's AP Poll.
*ISU has won four-straight Big 12 games for just the fourth time since 2001.
*ISU recorded its 21st win over a ranked opponent in the last three seasons, the most in the nation during that span.
*Georges Niang recorded his school-record career win total to 91.
*Niang recorded his 111th career start at Iowa State, tying for sixth-best total in school history.
*Niang scored 19 points for his 100th career game in double-figure scoring and his 29th consecutive.
*Niang now has 1,895 career points to move past Victor Alexander to No. 4 on ISU's career scoring list.
*He also moved to No. 12 on the Big 12 career scoring list.
*Matt Thomas hit three 3-pointers, the ninth time this season where he's made three or more treys in a game.
*Thomas now has 124 3-pointers in his career to rank 12th in school history.
*Abdel Nader scored 17 points tonight. He now joins the 1,000-point club by scoring 1,013 in his career (including Northern Illinois).
*Monte' Morris dished out nine assists, his 50th 5+ assist game of his career.
*Morris moves to No. 7 on ISU's career assist list with 449 dimes.

Up Next
Iowa State travels to Texas A&M (Jan. 30) on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN.

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Team Stats

Monte Morris

Georges Niang

Abdel Nader

Matt Thomas

Players Mentioned

Deonte Burton

Georges Niang

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics